Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte this week launched the new Rural Broadband Scheme which will look to identify the remaining 1% of premises in Ireland that are unable to obtain a broadband service. The new scheme will look to provide a service to those premises where requested. Applications are currently being accepted from those without broadband service who have until July 29th to register their details.
There will be a number of phases in the Scheme. The first phase, which is currently underway, involves inviting and processing applications. The Department has been accepting applications from those with no broadband coverage from May 9th and will continue to do so until July 29th. Following this, the second phase of the scheme will see the Department check with existing internet service providers to see if they are willing to provide a service to the premises concerned.
Should this agreement work out, the affected applications will no longer be considered to be in need of help. If none of the companies concerned are prepared to offer certain individuals a service, then their application will progress to the next phase. It is expected that the second Phase of the Scheme will be completed by January 2012 at the latest.
In the third and final phase of the Scheme, the Department will engage an internet service provider who will offer a basic internet service to applicants. The details of all applicants will be forwarded on to this service provider who will contact the applicants and offer them the service. While the Department will be paying part of the cost of the infrastructure necessary to provide a service under this Scheme, the applicant will be responsible for paying the costs of the service itself.
The Scheme is to be completed by the end of 2012 at the latest. While the completion of the Government’s National Broadband Scheme (NBS) means that broadband services are now available to 99% of the country’s residents, there are remaining un-served rural premises which could not be included in the NBS or which are difficult to reach for mainly technical reasons. In tandem with this development, the Minister announced that he intends to push ahead with discussions with the telecommunications sector with a view to establishing a roadmap for the delivery of next generation broadband in Ireland in line with the commitments in the Government’s National Recovery Programme.
Under the NewEra proposals in the Programme for Government there is a commitment for NewEra to co-invest with the private sector and commercial semi-State sector to provide next generation broadband to every home and business in the State. Consideration on how best to advance these proposals, for which Minister of State Fergus O’Dowd has responsibility, is being advanced. Minister Rabbitte commented on the ongoing discussions as to the proposal, saying:“In order to accelerate the development of high speed broadband, my colleague Minister O’Dowd and I intend to engage intensively with industry. To this end we will be convening the first formal meeting of the Next Generation Broadband Task Force over the coming weeks”.
The Rural Broadband Scheme will be carried out in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Rural Development Programme and is co-funded by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development. For more information about the scheme and for application guidelines visit www.dcenr.gov.ie
